Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME XXI.
\ v. <K : ÜBr > A. XV. : A I .
VlcKibben fc Lane
.TTJR EYSATLAW
JACK-' n Ga
BENUE CLAUDE C. RM,
■ ' ' lacksor G .
I RAY & RAY,
[ATTO RN E YS.
Negotiate loans on real estate lower than
any Loan Broker in Georgia.
Superior advantages in collecting claims
n the South.
Practice in all Courts, both Federal and
State: Also Supreme Court of U. S. A. bv
special contract.
WRIGHT & BECK,
Attorneys at Law.
(OFFICE IN COURT HOc BE.)
- - CSrJB^.
M. M. MILLS,
eunttUor & Attorney at Law.
Will jir*ctie in all the courts. M*"er
#aa4 on r<al estate at low rate of Inter
t. Long time araotod with small pay-
Honey obtained at onoo without
(otmea nt court howsr.)
Dr. 0. H. Cantrell,
didntist.
JACKSON, - - GEORGIA.
Up stair* over S. W. Bun’s Rock
I oraer.
J. W. LEE, M. 1).
JACKSON, QA.
Will practice medicine in its various
kraaofcea.
Office at J. W. Lee & Boa’s drug store.
Residence first house west of Mrs.
Brady’s.
HOTELS.
STOP AT THE
Morrison House.
KVKKYI lII,\Q NEW AND FIRST
CLASS
Conveniently Located,
Free Hack to ¥>v*o*
C It. GRESHAM, Proprietor.
Wilkinson House.
Fir t C<es in Erry Particular.
Th ©sty brick hotel between Atlaate
r.d M *cen.
C'nv*Hi*nt to all business.
Mi. A. E. Wlhimsow, Prop.
Dompsy TFTrm an
| Mil. T. B. MOORE, Ptomnos.
WiMr.'l ible, id Table supplied
w.th the l*eet.
Owner Public Btjnare.
ETHERIDGE & KINA ED.
FIDE INSURANCE AGENTS.
Risk taken on all classes of Insur
ance.
We insure Cotton, Cotton Gins Saw
mills, Country Stores, Dwellings,
Barns &c. We represent some of the
('st and oldest companies in the Uni
ted Sates.
MOAEY TO LOAN.
We are prepared to negotiate loans for
j amount on real estate on the moat
avorable terms. Call on us and investi
tive before borrowing elsewhere. Office
n the court house.
Thaxton A Mills.
fure, Brilliant, Perfect.
Authentic bring testimoaUls from dis
'*■ uis ed generate and statesmen in fa
rof H i ke-* New Orr!tali*ed Le'"*ei
ver <1; oth’ lN
Oir Next U. N. 'fßßtit Smyei
Mh K ilawks* Dar ihr: Th*
•tic p*e ;l '<s on lur ashed me
me m sii.ee piTe exec cat smtisfac
i - ' have estod them by use and
rs > sa in aie tin q-utled in eloarneae
• o bril .ncv by any that I h ire erar
it .-p.-ctfu'ly,
Jon* B. CJordok,
Ex-Governor of Bt*te of Georgia.
Bulicm Man’ll Clear Tltt.a*
N' w Y rk City, AprH 4, 1888.
Mb. A. K. Hawkihs— Dear Sr: Your
patent eye tkaeea re- t ired some tin?
4i ce, and nn rery much gratified at the
oj<i>rful ohange that has come orer my
*)'*i|rht sinee I have disc rded my old
gta*asj and am no r wearing youra.
Aubxasdbr Aoak,
Secretary Stationer* Board of Trade of
New Y*rk City.
A-W iiyee fit and and t* e fit guaranteed by
L CARMICHAEL,
*AC*SO*. - BEOKSIA
Jitftftle #co?gin
LOCAL BRIEFS.
Ihnne your grapevines.
t be mule business is lively.
Read the jury list in this issue.
Save all home made fertilizers.
W e add new names to our subscrip
* ion list every week.
Clever Bill Hightower, of McDon
ough, was in town on Saturday.
Il you want a good hat try the
(Cate City. Almand,Mron &Cos.
Only three weeks now ami ihp re
publican office h'drler* will have to
hunt la.
Remember that superior court con
vene* on its old time—second Mondax
in March.
Best parch coffee—Jersey cof
lee. Buy one package at
Almand, Moon & Cos.
Mr. Wesley Mo.ev, of Oik, died on
Wednesday night week after a serious
illness of only a few dais.
The public loads should be put in
good condition. Do not wait untiil just
betore court and after.
This week has been an exceedingly
foggj one. For seve-al days the fog
was so heavy that one could not see
but a short distance, for a larger pari
of the day.
The old reliable Butts and Eu
taw acid and Jackson High
Grade fertilizers.
Almand, Moon & Cos.
The fertilizer sales will be much
larger in Jackson this season than
ever before. We do not mean to say
that our farmers will use more but
more people are coming here for it.
In fact, our trading territory is
spreading everv year.
We worn out foraging one day last
week amt when we returned and took
au inventory of our dax’s work we
had tvv pigs, live doztu eggs, one
peck walnuts, one peck penuts, and a
bushel turnips. This insures living
one more week at leas:
We learn that ali the Indian legends
eoncei ning the famous India i fSpriugs
are to be written up and put in book
foi m at an eariy A y Mr. T. W
Loylers, city editor of the Macon Tel
e raph, will edit the work.
We aie proud ol this, as a place with
more romantic and legendary history
than Indian Springs cau not be found
in Georgia.
When you want to buy cheap
goods, give us a call. Shoes, hats,
clothing jeans, flannel, drilling,
ch jcks, shirting, calico, table lin
en, bed spreads, silk hosiery,
gloves, handkerchie s, pins,
needles, buttons, thread, umbrel
las of all kinds, corsets, cuffs,
collars, shirts, suspenders and
gents neck wear, at
Almand, Moon & Cos.
The Argus does not want it to be
understood as trying to dictate to our
farmer friends what they should
plant, or what they should not plant,
but just as sure as they plant largely
of cotton tho coming season, they will
reap but little money for their labor
this year. Cat the cotton planting
short and increase all home supply
products and you will be prosperous
and happy.
JURY* LIST.
Jurors Drawn tor the March Term ot
Butts Superior Court, 1893.
traverse jurors.
R. G. Plymale Samuel Hodges
J. M. Goggius P. R. Watkins
M. L. Duke J. W. Anderson
Elmo Andrews J. H. Ham
Me D. Henderson J. G. Thonipsou
J. M. Fiudlv B. C, Ware
S. T. Haiellp J. L. Crawle\
G. W. Coleman. W. F. Duke
I'. J. Cole J. A. Pitman
B B. Biles O. B. Willis
J. R. .nayfiield W. H. Bat nes
W. M. Andrews G. S. Barber
Cornelia McClure W. C. Whuiley
Wilson Smith G. T. Fo-sett
B A. \\ right Jd. P. Dod'On
J. J. ihoiutOK 11..1. Maddox
i J. Waklrup R. G Lavender
.1. r Boon A. A L> luon
GRAND JURORS.
A. H Ogle tree C. F. Etheridge
J. IJ. jiieCalitim G W White
T* H. Grier T. J. D mpsiy
F. S Etheridge J. B. Moore
J. F. McKibben Jas. Wilson
U. 1.. Daughtry W. F. Smith
J J. Thompson Z T. Smith
J. M. Ball J. G. Colwell
Drakt Knewles Jas. C. Maddox
J W. Terrell R. V. Smith
J. S. Carter J. T. Bickers
K. W. Aiken T. J Carson
>l. G. Barfield W. M. Hammomi
J. T. Mayo T. N. Bowulee
H. L. Grant J. P. Britton.
JACKSON, GA., FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10 1893.
SCBOOL DEPIHTMT.
BUTTS COUNTY SCHOOLS AND
TEACHERS.
Jackson Institute -J. C. Blasin
game president; Prof. Kelley, vice
president; Miss Eva Sasnett and
Miss Rosa Thornton, teachers.
Music, Miss Helen Rogers. Art
deparmen*, Miss Mahone.
Jenkinsb lrg —C. R. Thompson,
Miss Eha E Pound.
Flovilla High School: —W. M.
Spann principal; J. C. Spann, as*'.
Mrs, G. B Elder Music.
Elgin High School—C. S. Mad
dox,
County Line -Prof Ward.
Henly V Mid— Prot. Aiken
Con nth—Miss McGheehee.
Indian Spings—Miss Fannnie M
Ogletree.
Worthville—Miss E-tell* Wal
thall,
Stark—J. C. Cornwall.
Cedar Rock—Miss Clyde Hunt.
Barrett's Mill—Miss Ida Smith
Base -Miss CfL'vis Jinks,
Flxnt Hill —M ms Magif Scar
brough
Cork—V. D. H.r.is
Grady Institute—Miss Dolhe
Rogers.
GOOD SPELLERS SCARCE.
Recently a spelling contest was
held at the Teachers’ Institute, in
Lockporf, N. Y , in xvhich eighty-five
school teachers took part.
Their participation in the contest
was compulsory, although a prize,
a dictiouary was given the winner.
Of tiie entire eighty five onlv, five
spelled “Ren ß selaer’’ correetl .
•‘A kaowledgment” was misspelled
by sixty-three, or about 74 per cent
of the entire number of thw contest
ants. ‘ Supersede’' was misspelled
L\ fif:'-eight contestants; “resus
citate'' by fifr v four ; “excellei
fitly six; ‘benefited by fifty eight;
‘‘haziness ’ b fifty; "m d.d' and
‘maintenance'’ bv forty five each ;
“ndllite?” by fortv e ght ; “‘preten
tious’’ and “gaseous,” each by forty
three, and '“concede’' by forty-nine.
That is, each of those words were
m>ed by over one half ol the con
testants. These instances will be
• ficiQt to show the general char
acter of the words propour ded and
misspelled.
Now, when so large a proportion
of teachers misspell so heavy per
centages as these, and it be borne in
mind that no or unusual
“catch’' word, properly so called,
anpears in the entire list,it justifies,
we think, the conclusion that good
* ellers are scarce. It must not be
cencluded that Niagara is
alone in the poor spelling of her
teachers. Far from it. On the con
trary, she averages well with other
counties in which similar contests
have been instituted In Rensse
laer county, for instance, the seat of
literature, laundry ing,breweries and
enlightenment, seven contestants
could not spell the name of their
own county It appears, in fact, to
be a puzzle everywhere it is given
out,
“Genesee ” never fails to bag a
goodly number of victims, and
“Nicarague” can always be relied
on for a few. We are not sure “Ni
agara,” if propounded, might not
have been misspelled hy a hall doz
en or so, Nor do we doubt that a
similar number of Chautauquans
would fail on the name of tlieii
county, and we imagine it would
be a safe wager that seven teachers.
tan institute held in that place,
pioviiled no previous hint were giv
en, would misspell “Skaneatehs,"
Yet it cannot he denied that tho
are common geographical raino,n|
will kc.own localities in the _r. a;
s do of New York. Sun iy. log.
piopor ion of teachers should .< i
-pell them Again, all. a* and, ehang*-H
bie,eligible.crysanthemtiui, ( ar .J 1
par lysi •, eyarrhal, hemonhig
separate and s\ nine ry are word.-
so persisted-ly miop* lied that tlie
vry fac* ehouldattract notice in our
public schools and the teachers
>ho ild not only spell them correetlv
and without hesitation themselves,
but teach their scholars to do like
wise. The fact is that in these c’a\ s
the pupils in the public schools
learn aliule of everything and not
very much of anything. It is full
time to revive the old-spelling bee.
Household Guest.
Mr. Editor: —As you said you
would like to have anything concern
ing schools, or schools of our county,
xve thought we would let you know
how the school at Iron Springs xva>
progressing.
VYe learn that there are forty pupils
enrolled, and undoubtedly the most
determined energetic children to be
found anywhere. We can testify to
this, tor miring the cold, cold weath
er since Christmas, the children could
be seen briskly walking to school
every morning, notxvithstanding their
homes were much more pleasant and
comfortable than the school home.
Although, some would be si en eailx
hastening to school for fear of de
merits on tardiness.
And, by the xvay, xve have learned
that last month eighteen were on tin
roll oi Honor tor perfect punctualitx,
lessons and deportment to xvit:
Nannie McDaniel Delia Maddox
Pearl Mayo Gertrude Maddox
Maggie Barber Maud Maddox
Ida Kiinbal Clifford Maddox
Virgia Maddox J. O. Preston
Mary McMiehael Edgar Preston
Allie Me Michael Perry Henderson
Estelle Henderson If. H. Henderson
Laura Smith Jessie McMiehael
We are. glad to have such an inter
esting school in our midst. Weal
xvays fei l tli it a xvell diciplined school,
xv be. re morals and manners are tangln
as xvell as text book-. Ims a good effect
on al 1 the neighborhood.
More anon,
Ax Observer.
We are glad our correspondent gave
the roll of honor, as >x ell as other val
uable information. Any child or
youth, who strives to excel in school
is just as honorable as be xvho obtain
to positions of honor in after lito. A
manor woman xvho doesn’t, feel in
his heart, to encourage, a school
girl or boy, in trying to fit themselw
for good society has a heart of stone,
and too little sense to have learned
that the bud is an undeveloped rose.
We will publish the syllabus for
the First Saturday's Institute in a fu
ture issue. Wiit'ii the subject ha>
been assigned to the respective teach
ers Every teacher in Bulls couin\
should be glad to attend these Insti
tutes. They are the greates couceiv
able means of learning tlie teachers
hoxv to teach 4 and a man who thinks
he knows enough is to be pitied, foi
he i/bo is finished, and, therefore net
susceptible to improvement, is in the
same rediculous predicament as the
religious crank, xvho has finished his
work and is now busily engaged in
attending to the allaii s of his neigh
bors.
OLD BLACK JOE.
I cant write you er letter ais week
boss, case Ise tie r d. You see, boss,
er young buckery is got me plovd
for dis year, an las week he tooken
s*.ade in de feeld all day ebery day,
an I tried to do de same remount
ob work what he do an conshequijt
1\ I cont rase me left hine foot ober
de tuder wun. I tell you boss er
nigger dont no liuffin what dunt hai
tur work in de feeld wider white
man what ones de farm he sef.
Week afer nex de white foksgoin
ter hab court, an de buckery is on
de jure an we niggers am er goin ter
hah some ress. Golly I ken shut
me e’s now an inervishunl ken
see ole Beck wi-d wun trace luse an
me settin er side de rode er talkin
ter ole ant Tildy what lives on Mr,
Watkins plantcration.
POSITIONS GUMALTNTEffD.
By The Georgia Business College of Ma
con, Georgia.
:Zhe estaolished reputation of the Geor
gia .Business College, which ranks all
other southern institutions, enables it to do
what no other is doing, viz: Guarantee a
position to every person of average ability
and good moral character, who completes
its prescribed cour-e.
Many Text .Book clleges are studiously
seeking to conceal their lack of merit and
influence, by hinting that no repn able in*
stiution wll guarantee positions. Fet.
this celebrated college, which eaches real
business by purely practical nietlio ds, no
only boldly gives this guarantee, lut s
making it good in every instance.
It had fifty studens from a dozen states
North a .and South, to enter last month; and
in addition to placing every graduate, has
now on hand numerous unfilled applica
tsoin from the best professional and mer
cantile Anns for book-keepers and stenog
raphers, at salaries of $(300.00 to $1500.00
per annum.
Evejy young lady and genfleman, de
siring to becon e independent, should
write for full particulars, to
Wyatt A J/artix,
Macon, Ga.
mn NESBITT
His Monthly Talk with the Farmers
of Georgia.
Department of Agriculture.
Atlanta, Ga., Feb. 1, 1893.
The Late Cold Spell,
Perhaps the severest in ten years, has
caused almost an entire paralysis of
farm work, and it is only where a great
deal of energy and determination have
been brought to the front that anything
has been accomplished in the field. A
little cleaning up. repairs on fences, the
cutting away of briars and bushes in the
old fence rows, is, in most cases, all
that has been attempted. The ther
mometer registered as low as six degrees
and never higher than fourteen for
several days, and it was this uniform
cold, with the snow which followed,
that saved the oat crop. Had it alter
nated between freezing and thawing for
Bame period, the damage would have
been irreparable. lam informed that
in some localities, more especially lower
Georgia, the oat crop has succumbed
and where this
CROP HAS BEEN KILLED.
I would advise the re-seeding of the
game land just a3 soon as the weather
permits of out door work. It has been
too much our practice in the past to put
this land in cotton.
don’t be tempted
to do this. If this land was fertilized
in the fall, put on a little more plant
food and put your oat seed in the first
opportunity, and I don’t think you will
have cause to regret your .action. I
have never seen a farmer who permitted
the land on which cotton had been
killed to go implanted, and I have yet
to see the man who replanted it in any
crop but cotton.
The plows must noxv be moving every
favorable moment, but
don’t plow your land when it is
TOO WET.
The little time gained by this plan is
far outbalanced by the injury to the
land, for if there is much clay this
becomes mortar, and so compacted that
It requires years of subsequent intelli
gent work to counteract the injury.
Too many tenants and hired men are
ignorant of or indifferent to the harm
done, and hence this mistaken plan is
often followed.
The heavy freezes have destroyed
much insect life, and will render our
land more pliable and easily broken by
the plow.
THE COMPOST HEAPS
should be pushed forward with vigor.
Try a compost of stable manure, acid
phosphate and potash. This puts your
land in fine mechanical condition and
gives plant food well adapted to our
soils and standard crops. For this pur
pose there is nothing better than the
formula prepared by the late Mr. Tur
man. which I give iu full elsewhere in
this report. In planning for your crops
DON’T GO ON THE IDEA
that it is the number of acres rather
than the preparation and condition of
the land which marks the successful
farmer. With our cheap and abundant
lands it seems almost natural that we
have fallen into this error. But let us
realize that it is an error and resolve to
follow better methods. In the last fifty
years agriculture has made vast strides
and it is in those older countries where
advanced, scientific methods have been
practiced that a marked degree has
been attained, and our own state, com
paratively young and fresh, has to
depend to a large extent on outside
assistance for the food to support our
population.
OUR CHIEF CROP
all goes to swell the profits of other in
dustries, leaving us nothing hut a hard
living. The consequent dissatisfaction
is causing many farmers to seek em
ployment in other lines of business. To
trace the evils of such a state of feeling
we need only study agricultural his
tory in England, Her farming popula
tion is 33 per cent, of the whole, and in
1890 she imported four hundred millions
of breadstuffs.* Her laboring popula
tion is poorly housed, underpaid, discon
tented. The average farm is 390 acres,
and m the last sixty years she has lost
8,500,000 of her population by imigra
tion.
In France, on the contrary, you find
an energetic, painstaking, frugal peo
ple cultivating and owning their small
farms. Her rural population is 75 per
cent, of the whole. In 1890 she exported
one hundred and thirty-five millions of
food products, and in sixty years she
has lost only 500,000 people by imigra
tion. Her farms average ten acres, but
there are four millions of farmers who
make an independent living on farms of
two acres each. Her people are inde
pendent and hopeful for the future. In
England the farmers have, in the last
century, lost by the enclosure acts
6,000,000 acres of land, while in France
nearly the same number of acres have
been gained by the working people. In
Our own state we see cur people bur
dened with
A SUPERABUNDANCE OF LAND
and undivided as to the best method for
managing it in order to make it pay
even a moderate interest. I under
stand and appreciate the difficulties,
which this condition brings—and I, in
common with many others, know that
the man who expects to realize a profit
or to pay off debts, by stretching his
credit to make a few more bales of cot
ton, literally “futures” to be dug out
of the ground, these to be exchanged
for meat and meal and fertilizers to
“run” a few more shiftless laborers, is
making a grave mistake. We admit
that this “old beaten track” has landed
us any where but in prosperity. We
know that the financial policy of the
government has discriminated against
the farmers, but we must also acknowl
edge that after seeing our carefully ma
tured plans end in ignominious failure,
or like Dead Sea fruit turn to ashes on
our lips—it is the part of wisdom to try
different methods. We have watched
these fruitless efforts year after year,
find it is folly to go on compounding
our mistakes. Let us direct our atten
tion chiefly to such
AN APPORTIONMENT OF OUR CROPS
as will secure our home supplies, and
then make such money crops as our cir
cumstances will admit. One man can
control labor with apparent ease, and
the labor is near him, this man can af
ford to take some risk in planting crops,
Which require rapid and clean cultiva
tion. On the other hand, I would ad
vise any man, who knows he will have
difficulty in obtaining labor, to direct
his work on the line of grasses and
itock. Begin on a small scale and build
pp gradually* The owner should W
the heal—to him should be left the di
rection of control of the farm economy,
which he should study to conform to
the most enlightened methods. Let
him plant such creps as have best suc
ceeded in his vicinity, work within his
means and don’t undertake more than
he can handle intelligently and with
the amount of labor at his command.
The Garden.
An abundant supply of fresh vege
tables is undoubtedly one of the luxu
ries of the farm, and to produce these
requires good management. The gar
den should have been deeply covered
with manure and this well plowed in,
not too deep—before the heavy freezes
began. If this has not been done, haul
out your manure at once and broadcast.
Plow and harrow until you have your
soil in good tilth, and in planting the
different vegetables try and supply as
far as possible the plant food needed by
that special variety. Irish potatoes, the
first garden crop usually planted, re
quire a good deal of potash and two
successive crops in the same year, can
be easily made. We are now, the first
of February, eating potatoes dug out of
the open ground, entirely uninjured by
the severe cold, and as perfect and large
as those of the usual spring crop. They
were planted in August and heavily
mulched,
Should it be necessary to re-seed the
oats put in an additional number of
acres, rather than curtail those already
sown. Should this crop fail, you have
a well manured and nicely prepared
6eed bed for
FIELD PEAS,
from which crop you can gain a fine
supply of feed and your land be left in
improved condition. Keep a large slice
of your farm for
CORN AND SORGIIUM,
planting several varieties of the latter
with a viev/ to succession of crops.
There is nothing better for hogs, and
if planted convenient to the hog pasture
can be handled without much expense.
Leave a good patch for potatoes and
ground peas. Remember that
THE HOG CROP 13 SHORT,
and the price of meat is advancing.
Look well to the hogs. Give them care
ful attention. I have a neighbor who
always raises an abundant supply of
meat, He has never lost a hog from
cholera. He gives them the same at
tention that he gives his plow animals,
the same regular daily feeding and wa
tering, and at one year of age his pork
ers average 200 pounds. This result is
not so much from the quantity of food,
as from the regularity with which it is
given.
In all these monthly talks 1 have en
deavored to show that we should aban
don methods, which must result in ab
solute stagnation of our energies. Our
agricultural misfortunes appeal directly
to the business interests of the whole
country, and our towns and cities w'ill
not continue to thrive and grow when
agriculture, their dependence, is in an
unhealthy condition. Build up our ag
riculture and every industry through
out our commonwealth will be re-vital
ized. Every effort of our government,
our agricultural societies, and our pub
lic men, should be directed to this great
work. I cannot close this “talk,” with
out again appealing to our farmers to
avoid the “broad acre” and the “cotton”
craze.
R. T. Nesbitt,
Commissioner.
Potash as a Fertilizer.
Of the three great plant foods phos
phoric acid, nitrogen and potash, the
farmer perhaps more often has the
value of potash illustrate than that of
the others. The increased yield on
those spots in the field where old brush
or logs have been burned hear testi
mony to its efficacy as a fertilizer. The
benefits derived may not be felt the first
year as it may not have become thor
oughly enough mixed with the soil to
have supplied with it the other mate
rials necessary for plant growth.
In America, potash as a fertilizer, has
never been so highly regarded as in
Europe. The reason for this is evident
from the large per cent of potash shown
in analysis of many of our soils as com
pared with those of Europe, and the
further fact that our staple crops do
not require as large a per cent, of this
ingredient as other crops more largely
cultivated in densely populated dis
tricts. The natural sources of potash
in the soil is from the disintegration of
feldspathic and micaceous rocks, and
for this reason the clay lands in the
sate formed by such disintegration are
not so likely to require a large applica
tion of this element with other fertili
zer material to render them fertile as
other lands in the formation of which
these rocks did not enter. Potash be
ing very soluable is easily leached out
of the soil, and consequently in washed
clays, originally containing a large
quantity, little is to te found, and
much clay soil might be found to pro
duce a larger yield by a greater applica
tion of this element.
The agricultural potash of commerce
is principally the salts of potash or
kainit, imported from Strassfurth, Ger
many, and contains about IS per cent,
of actual potash and muriate of potash,
which contains 80 per cent, of muriate
of or about 50 per cent actual potash.
Freed from combination, pure potash is
very caustic and absorbs water from
the air very rapidly in this state, the
cost would be increased and the diffi
culty of handling very great. Another
radical objection to potash in its caustic
state, is, that it cannot be composted to
advantage, as its chemical action re
leases the ammonia in the manure.
Among trackers and fruit growers
the value placed upon this ingredient of
our fertilizers as promoting the growth
of vegetables and fruits is evidenced by
the high per centage contained in spe
cial preparations made for their use.
Indeed the value of potash in these par
ticular branches of agriculture, is too
well recognized to admit of discussion,
and the fact of its use in combination
with phosphoric acid and nitrogen ex
cludes further reference to the matter
in this article, the purpose of which is
to discuss whether this ingredient
might not in some section of our state
be advantageously increased in our
commercial fertilizer and in making
compost. In advice on the subject of
fertilizing no empirical directions of
a general nature can be given, and ex
periment alone can be relied upon to
accurately tell the demands of the soil,
for this reason we would not be under
stood as advising a farmer to largely
increase the quantity of kainit he is ac
custom to use in his compost heap,
without first having tried such an in
crease on a small part of a field and no
ted the effect on the yield. It may be
that the land does not demand potash,
but is difficult in phosphoric acid or ni*
NUMBER 6.
trogen, or that the ordinary compo 4
formula for corn and cotton is weL
adapted to the soil. The value of ex
periineuts to test the wants of the so* i
cannot be overestimated, and the farm >r
thus has at his command a simple and
inexpensive method of ascertaining
what should be applied to his land,
which is superior to an expensive chem
ical analysis of the soil. Too often we
are prone to rely on soil test made by
others, without properly considering
their relative merits as applieable to
our land, and to reason that the same
fertilizer that produced a large yield
on one field, will produce a large yield
on all fields whereas different chemical
and mechanical conditions may demand
fertilization of a very different charac
ter. Those farmers who have made a
suecefs, and have converted worn lands
into fertile fields, have done so by
studying the wants of the particular
soils, they are seeking to bring up and
by supplying organic matter, phospho
ric acid, nitrogen and potash, as experi
ments demonserated it was demanded.
We are thus careful to emphasize the
immense value of experimental test of
the soil by the farmer, as we believe
that old rules should not be departed
from until new methods have had their
worth demonstrated. Personally, we
have no doubt that on much of our
land, especially in Southern Georgia,
an increase in the amount of potash
ordinarially xised would be found ad
vantageous, yet it would be unsafe to
ask the adoption of such an increase
until its merits have been tried, and
thejbest combination of the three great
plant foods ascertained. From Terrell
county reports have been made to the
department of an increased yield from
the use of an additional amount of pot
ash, on the other hand in the general
fertilizer experiment on corn conducted
at the State Experiment station, among
the conclusions reached were these-
That the soil was diffident in all thi <$
of the elements phosporic acid, potash
and nitrogen. That it was particular
diffident in nitrogen, because nitrogen
invariably produced the most marked in
crease in the yield. That phosphoric acid
was next in order of deficiency, since
its effectiveness in increasing the yield
Was next after that of nitrogen. That
potash was least effected, was least
needed. The results of this experiment,
while showing the efficacy of nitrogen
and phosphoric acid as fertilizers, does
not by any means demonstrate that where
there is a deficiency of potash in the
soil an increase of this element in com
bination may not produce a large in
crease in the yield. A large number of
experiments conducted at the Hatch
Experiment station of the Massachusetts
Agricultural college sustains this view,
and the conclusions there reached place
a very high value on potash as a fertil
izer for corn. In comparing the results
of the experiments the director of the sta
tion says: “These comparisons indicate
the surpassing importance of potash for
corn upon this soil, thus confirming the
general result of the w ark with cor’
during the two preceding years. In
view of the almost universal response of
corn to this fertilizer upon soils of fj
many different classes and of all degrees
of fertility and in so many widely sepa
rated localities, the conclusion that it
should be a prominent ingredient of fer
tilizers used for this crop appears to me
irresistible.”
The director of the same station ad
vocates from experiments the use o;
potash with ordinary barn yard or stab! j
manure for corn, and finds that fertil
izers containing a larger proportion of
potash produces in Massachusetts better
results than the ordinary special corn
fertilizer. The conclusion reached as to
the formula to be used on the soil oa
weich these experiments were conducted
are so large in potash that we give the
formula recommended by the director,
as shown to what extent potash as a
fertilizer may be successfully used for
corn where the land does not naturally
supply this element. The formula rec
ommended is nitrogen 25 to 30 pounds,
potash 75 to 80 pounds, and perhaps 25
pounds of phosphoric acid. A striking
feature of this formula is the small
amount of phosphoric acid recommended
with a doubt as to its value on this soil.
The widely different results obtained
by the Georgia station and that of the
Massachusetts station furnishes no
ground whatever for questioning the
accurocy of the work of either station,
but rather bear testimony to the value
of experimental work. It would seem
from the results obtained at Griffin that
the soil is well supplied with potash, and
that there is little need of increasing
the quantity of this ingredient while au
increase in the quantity of nitrogen
would result in great benefit. The work
of the Massachusetts station is of more
value as a potash test, as most of thr
experiments appear from the results
obtained to have been made on land
depleted of this element and the in
creased yield from a very large use of it
testify directly to is value as a corn fer
tilizer.
Chemical analysis of the various crop
shows that they contain a large percent
of potash, and if the composition of the
product is a criterion by which to judge
the manure to be used where potash is
deficient a large per cent, is demanded.
Wheat and wheat straw ashes in 1,0(K
dry parts contain 361 potash and 529
phosphoric acid; corn and corn stalks
857 potash, 620 phosphoric acid; oats
and oat straw, 453 potash and 465 phos
phoric acid. The ashes of turnips and
potatoes show much larger amounts of
potash than of phosphoric acid. In 1,000
grains, air dried, of cotton stalks and
seed there is 15.8 potash and 13.3 phos
phoric acid. In dealing with these
analyses the fact that some soils con
tain a supply of potash is to bo consid
ered as favoring a larger proportion of
phosphoric acid. On the other hand
where fertilizers have been previously
used the soluble character of potash
and the fact that phosphoric acid when
not, taken up by the plants remains in the
soil is to be weighed in behalf of increas
ing the proportion of potash. The small
per cent, of potash found in the average
commercial fertilizer, the great differ
ence in our lands as regards to this ele
ment, the injury resulting from its ab
sence, call upon ihe farmer to exercise
his best judgment in regard to its use.
I he value of home tests as enabling him
to reach a proper conclusion cannot be
overestimated. Where soil is wanting
in all three of the principal plant foods
these analyses would advocate a much
larger per cent, of potash than is ordi
narily used. Experiments alone would
therelore inform the farmer what he
should do.
In conclusion we would advise farm
ers in Southern Georgia and on the
sandy lands of North Georgia to add an
additional amount of potash on some
part of a fieldj not such a trial as would
effect you finjjjicially were it to prove a
failure, but guch a one as would by the
yield show whether the soils demand